The federal government Wednesday decided to ban the import of non-essential and luxury items to deal with the depleting exchange reserves and the falling rupee. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has banned the import of luxury vehicles and other non-essential items, including cosmetics, for which instructions have also been issued, says a news report quoting sources. “Precious foreign exchange would not be spent on import of unnecessary and luxury items,” the premier said. The decision was taken by the premier due to the widening trade deficit and, after holding a consultative meeting with his coalition partners, it was decided that the government will take tough decisions to stabilise the economy. The US dollar has witnessed a record surge during the past few weeks and was trading at over Rs200 in the open market, signaling a lack of confidence among the traders in the financial markets. Meanwhile, according to sources in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), a proposal to increase duty on the following items has been submitted: Regulatory duty on machinery will be up by 10% and home appliances by 50% Power generation machinery regulations to go up by 30% Steel products regulatory duty to go up by 10% Duty on cars above 1,000cc to be up by 100% and 30% ACD Regulatory duty on ceramics to be up by 40% Duty on mobile phones to rise within a range of Rs6,000 to Rs44,000 per unit The business community had also urged the government to immediately put curbs on the import of luxury goods as the country is heading towards economic chaos. “Pakistan is heading towards an economic crisis,” warned the Employers’ Federation of Pakistan (EFP) President Ismail Suttar. Worsening balance of payments position, high inflation, depleting foreign exchange reserves and political uncertainty have led the country to an alarming economic situation, he said.